Question:
What’s the solution? I hate em too (and would never deal with them) but it seems like the bands responsibility to ensure that online ticket sales are delayed or some other mechanism to try to get the majority of tickets to the fans (i posted some ramble on this yesterday….. I’m not familiar with Ebay – can the tickets be priced out by bogus offers? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, I’m only giving away a few tricks of the scalping trade, but who knows, you might learn something. 1) Appearance is everything: Most of these scalpers on Ebay (especially those offering GA tickets) have not yet purchased the tickets yet. Basically, when you buy from a ticket broker, you are placing an order. The more money you give them, the harder they are going to work to get the tickets you want. They operate in networks, so they have a lot of ticket options. Chances are, if you are willing to pay their price, they’ll fulfill your "order." Which leads to the next trick … 2) Bait and Switch: If you thought used car salesman were bad, you haven’t dealt with a ticket broker. Especially these online auction brokers. I’ve heard everything from, "Oh, we made a mistake when we listed those tickets. They’re really in row XX, seat XX, but they’re just as good." to (believe it or not) "Funny thing happened … we lost those tickets. But we just happened to get some more in." Why does this happen with these ebay scalpers? THEY DON’T ACTUALLY BUY THE TICKETS UNTIL THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY IN HAND. 3) The "Got Two?" Approach: This is not really related to the above techniques, but it’s one you see at almost every event — football to concerts. When scalpers have "booty" — tickets that still haven’t sold on the day of the concert — they set up shop in the parking lot of the venue. Seasoned scalpers work in pairs. The first guy you encounter will be holding up two fingers asking if you "got two?" This creates the impression that tickets are in demand. When those that don’t have tickets to the show see this guy, their hopes of getting tickets are drop-kicked. They feel a little more desperate than they already were. But, wait, who’s that about 25-50 yards away? It’s scalper No. 2 who happens to have two tickets. When groundwork has been laid, a scalper will get paid. Yes, it’s all pretty scummy. I think the main thing is not to be forced into making rash decisions and you won’t get taken advantage of. Amos an old U2 fan from the dark ages
Response:
Nice Post ! This very true, check the scalper web sites they have tickets listed for shows that have not gone on sale. SFX also siphons off tickets to scalpers. Mainly at their outdoor venues to "season pass holders" but they do it all over. At the 99 Roger Waters show at the Rosemont theater promoted by Jam productions a scalpers web site listed over 800 tickets, – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, I’m only giving away a few tricks of the scalping trade, but who knows, you might learn something. 1) Appearance is everything: Most of these scalpers on Ebay (especially those offering GA tickets) have not yet purchased the tickets yet. Basically, when you buy from a ticket broker, you are placing an order. The more money you give them, the harder they are going to work to get the tickets you want. They operate in networks, so they have a lot of ticket options. Chances are, if you are willing to pay their price, they’ll fulfill your "order." Which leads to the next trick … 2) Bait and Switch: If you thought used car salesman were bad, you haven’t dealt with a ticket broker. Especially these online auction brokers. I’ve heard everything from, "Oh, we made a mistake when we listed those tickets. They’re really in row XX, seat XX, but they’re just as good." to (believe it or not) "Funny thing happened … we lost those tickets. But we just happened to get some more in." Why does this happen with these ebay scalpers? THEY DON’T ACTUALLY BUY THE TICKETS UNTIL THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY IN HAND. 3) The "Got Two?" Approach: This is not really related to the above techniques, but it’s one you see at almost every event — football to concerts. When scalpers have "booty" — tickets that still haven’t sold on the day of the concert — they set up shop in the parking lot of the venue. Seasoned scalpers work in pairs. The first guy you encounter will be holding up two fingers asking if you "got two?" This creates the impression that tickets are in demand. When those that don’t have tickets to the show see this guy, their hopes of getting tickets are drop-kicked. They feel a little more desperate than they already were. But, wait, who’s that about 25-50 yards away? It’s scalper No. 2 who happens to have two tickets. When groundwork has been laid, a scalper will get paid. Yes, it’s all pretty scummy. I think the main thing is not to be forced into making rash decisions and you won’t get taken advantage of. Amos an old U2 fan from the dark ages
Response:
OK, I’m only giving away a few tricks of the scalping trade, but who knows, you might learn something. 1) Appearance is everything: Most of these scalpers on Ebay (especially those offering GA tickets) have not yet purchased the tickets yet. Basically, when you buy from a ticket broker, you are placing an order. The more money you give them, the harder they are going to work to get the tickets you want. They operate in networks, so they have a lot of ticket options. Chances are, if you are willing to pay their price, they’ll fulfill your "order." Which leads to the next trick … 2) Bait and Switch: If you thought used car salesman were bad, you haven’t dealt with a ticket broker. Especially these online auction brokers. I’ve heard everything from, "Oh, we made a mistake when we listed those tickets. They’re really in row XX, seat XX, but they’re just as good." to (believe it or not) "Funny thing happened … we lost those tickets. But we just happened to get some more in." Why does this happen with these ebay scalpers? THEY DON’T ACTUALLY BUY THE TICKETS UNTIL THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY IN HAND. 3) The "Got Two?" Approach: This is not really related to the above techniques, but it’s one you see at almost every event — football to concerts. When scalpers have "booty" — tickets that still haven’t sold on the day of the concert — they set up shop in the parking lot of the venue. Seasoned scalpers work in pairs. The first guy you encounter will be holding up two fingers asking if you "got two?" This creates the impression that tickets are in demand. When those that don’t have tickets to the show see this guy, their hopes of getting tickets are drop-kicked. They feel a little more desperate than they already were. But, wait, who’s that about 25-50 yards away? It’s scalper No. 2 who happens to have two tickets. When groundwork has been laid, a scalper will get paid. Yes, it’s all pretty scummy. I think the main thing is not to be forced into making rash decisions and you won’t get taken advantage of. Amos an old U2 fan from the dark ages
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